Tom Jenkins was a virtuoso violinist who led the BBC's Grand Hotel broadcasts on Sunday evenings in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He died in 1957 aged forty seven. In 1995, his widow Michelle sold his Stradivarius violin for £375,000. With this, she established the Tom Jenkins Trust which went on to provide an annual award for the best stringed instrument manufactured by a student at the Guildhall University (subsequently London Metropolitan).

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This award was eventually placed under the auspices of the Musicians' Company, managed by Dr Terence Pamplin (former Junior Warden of the Company) and Professor Yfrah Neaman (winner of the Cobbett Medal in 1997), together with the support of Margaret Campbell, a Freeman of the Company.

 

Antonio Stradivarius was 23 when he made the violin owned by Tom Jenkins shortly after leaving the Amati workshop.  The Award therefore goes to a student based in a modern-day workshop who shows total commitment to and skill in the making of violins and related bowed instruments.

 

Past Winners:

 

2004 - Damien Sainmont

2005 - Lionel Karl Hepplewhite

2006 - BVMA Sponsorship: Violin Restoration and Bow Making Course

2007 - BVMA Sponsorship: Violin Restoration and Bow Making Course

2008 - Tobye le Vaillant & Tim Cogger

2009 - BVMA Sponsorship: Violin Restoration and Bow Making Course

2010 - Angus Dracup

2011 - BVMA Sponsorship: Violin Restoration and Bow Making Course

2012 - Martin Cuffe

2013 - BVMA Sponsorship: Violin Restoration and Bow Making Course

2014 - Edward Klose

2015 - BVMA Sponsorship: Violin Restoration and Bow Making Course

2016 - Kit Wensley